Champions are not made overnight. It takes years of training to achieve excellence. While the perseverance and perspiration of an athlete are the ultimate determining factors, the role of a coach in shaping their path to success cannot be underestimated.
On Teacher’s Day, Olympics.com attempts to acknowledge the contribution of the support staff, that in modern day sports, is simply indispensable.
There are some incredible tales of coaches and how their mentorship influenced their wards to make it big on the international stage.
Here are 10 such Indian personalities who helped unearth and polish a raw diamond. This tribute on Teacher’s Day is by no means a ‘final’ list but only a small endeavour to say thank you to those who often remain as unsung heroes.
Pullela Gopichand
One of Indian badminton’s finest servants, Pullela Gopichand, has helped shape the careers of Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal among others.
After his long illustrious career as a player, Gopichand invested all his savings and even mortgaged his house to open his badminton academy in Hyderabad. That academy has well and truly ushered in India’s revival in badminton, with most of today’s top seeds from the country having honed their trade there.
Gopichand has been described as a strict disciplinarian; having even prohibited PV Sindhu from even using her phone before the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The veteran coach was also instrumental in charting the path to success for Srikanth Kidambi, recognising his individual talent as a player and making him switch from doubles to singles badminton.
Gopichand’s personalised training and disciplined approach is what has helped Indian badminton achieve success. He has also been given a honourable mention by the International Olympic Committee for his lifetime contribution to badminton.
GS Sandhu
Indian boxing has grown leaps and bounds in the past decade or so and the major credit for that is reserved for Gurbaksh Singh Sandhu. He was at the helm of affairs when India won their first boxing medal at the Olympics in 2008, with his pupil Vijender Singh claiming bronze.
Sandhu introduced video-assisted training to Indian boxers and had his wards look into footage of their opponents to study them.